'Little Spirit' shows big potential

December 07, 2008

REMOTE CONTROL JEREMY D. BONFIGLIO Leopoldo Gout is a name that may be more familiar with fans of graphic novels and suspense fiction, but that is about to change. Gout, who co-wrote "Daniel X, Alien Hunter" with novelist James Patterson and the supernatural thriller "Ghost Radio," which hit bookstores in October, also is the man behind "Little Spirit: Christmas in New York." The hour-long holiday special, which airs Wednesday on NBC (a Spanish-language version also will be broadcast Saturday on Telemundo), is without a doubt, one of the best original animated Christmas programs to be released in years. Gout, who was born and raised in Mexico and now lives in New York, has not only attracted an all-star voice cast that includes Danny DeVito, Lucy Liu and Brian Williams, but he also has managed to stylistically blend the look of traditional painting with contemporary 3-D technology to create an aesthetic that is both classic and innovative. "What we wanted is to imagine a Marc Chagall or a Frieda Kahlo painting and then make it move," Gout says by telephone on a conference call with reporters. "You want it to express something that had the feeling of a moving painting." The tale begins when a friendly cabbie (Danny DeVito) tells two young sisters the story of a boy named Leo (Michael Hall D'Addario) who moved to Manhattan with his family. While adjusting to the big city and enjoying the days leading up to Christmas, Leo accidentally loses his dog, Ramona, in Central Park. Leo is devastated by his loss until a magical creature named Little Spirit appears and takes him on a quest to find Ramona by traveling through portals inside Christmas trees. Leo and Little Spirit meet people from all walks of life and by the time Leo is reunited with Ramona, he has developed an eclectic group of friends that make the strange city seem like home. "I had a fantasy that Christmas decorations were important," Gout says. "I grew up imagining that there was a secret world behind every Christmas tree that I've ever seen. I manifested that in drawings and little stories that I've been doing since I'm like literally 6 years old." DeVito, who is fantastic as the cab driver who provides the narration, says he was sold on the project right away. "We met on a plane," DeVito says. "We were talking about directing and we'd share a lot of conceptual things and our feelings and tastes. And he just mentioned that he was doing this and said wouldn't it be nice to do the voice in this Little Spirit, and I immediately responded." "Danny's such a New York icon," Gout adds. "I mean when he's on the street in New York, people stop in and say hello. So we wanted to capture that when we did (this animation)." The project, which took a year and a half to develop, also features original songs and music by Duncan Sheik, the Tony Award-winning writer and composer of Broadway's "Spring Awakening," as well as holiday classics sung by Faith Hill. Although DeVito says his own children are now in their 20s, he expects "Little Spirit" will resonate with some of the younger children in his extended family, which is one of the reasons he has embraced the project. "I was really thrilled to be part of something that could be a Christmas gift for my extended family," DeVito says. "In terms of television or animated films, I think that Christmas was really an important time of the year for me because there was always Christmas specials on television." Part of the reason "Little Spirit" succeeds is because its story and tone are reminiscent of such 1960s holiday movies as "A Charlie Brown Christmas," "Frosty the Snowman" and "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" that are still played today. So will "Little Spirit" join that list of holiday classics that are played over and over again? DeVito certainly thinks so. "I think that kids will embrace the movie every year," he says. "I feel like it'll touch youngsters all over the country and all over the world. It's a great story and we're looking forward to seeing it for a long time." For more television coverage visit the Remote Control blog at www.southbendtribune.com.